Air Canada To Appeal Quebec Maintenance Ruling

Air Canada plans to appeal a court ruling that found the carrier violated federal law when it assigned heavy maintenance services to an U.S. company.

“Air Canada will be appealing this Quebec Superior Court decision, given the importance of the matter,” a spokeswoman tells Aviation Week. “We will not be making further comment at this time.”

Last October, the Canadian carrier signed a letter of intent with AAR Corp. to provide scheduled maintenance and modifications for about 89 AirbusA320s through September 2017. AAR already is performing heavy maintenance in Miami and Duluth, Minn. and plans to transition all Air Canada work to Duluth when it opens two more lines at the facility. (Aviation Daily, Feb. 4).

The court, however, says Air Canada has violated its obligations under the Air Canada Public Participation Act to keep operations in the country since Aveos, the Canadian maintenance, repair and overhaul provider that performed most of the Air Canada’s services, liquidated in March. The court says Aveos’ resulted in the loss of 1,785 direct jobs, and that 1,062 more jobs could be affected if heavy maintenance services are performed outside of Quebec.